Practice Makes Perfect
by coffeecoffeecoffee83
Summary: Rory's Shakespeare show is over, and the sparks start to fly between Luke and Lorelai. Pure unadulterated fluff. One-shot.


**Disclaimer: **I own 32 pairs of shoes. I don't, however, own any rights to Gilmore Girls or the characters. I also stole.. no wait... borrowed.. some of the dialouge. What you gonna do about it, punk?

**AN:** Pure fluff, and I make no apologies for it, because this is the kinda stuff I could eat with a spoon. Starts at the end of _Run Away Little Boy_.

**Practice Makes Perfect**

Lorelai strolled up to the end of the counter, eager to give Rory and Dean some time alone.

"Hey," she said to Luke.

He looked up at her casually. "How'd it go?"

She glanced back at her daughter. "Oh, you know. I think Shakespeare will recover." She gave a little shrug and sent him a smile.

"That's good," Luke said. His awkwardness was obvious. Seeing her with that... kid... had really thrown him, and he wasn't yet ready to admit why it bothered him so much.

Lorelai nervously tested the waters, not wanted to anger Luke even more. "Hey, are you good at dating?"

He looked sideways at her, unsure what she was getting at. "What?"

"Dating," she reiterated emphatically. "Do you have that down?"

Luke looked at her warily. "Okay, if this is about that kid, then..." he got out quickly.

Lorelai shook her head slightly. "No. It's not about anything. It's just a question." She looked into his eyes earnestly.

Luke tried to keep his answer light and not say the suggestion that had popped into his head initially. "Well, I don't know if I have it down. Considering I live with my nephew, I'd say not," he chuckled.

Lorelai took in his casual answer, and sighed. "I don't have it down, either," she confided. "I've never been very good at it, really. I never even really liked it." She shrugged. "Too much 'what if'. I like things I can count on. I mean, uh, with Max, it was the first time I was finally like 'Hey, here it is - that one person who will always be there for me'. And then I turned around, and it's suddenly 'Oops, wrong. Keep moving'.

Luke fought the urge to hug her and take away all her pain. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked.

Her eyes started to glisten as she tried to explain. "I don't have very many people in my life who are in my life permanently - forever. They will always be there for me. I will always be there for them. You know?" She looked at him, and he nodded. "There's Rory, and Sookie, and this town and ... you." She paused, looking down at the counter. "I mean, at least, I think I've got..."

He interrupted her. "You do."

She smiled slightly. "Good. Just checking."

They looked at each other, and Luke could feel his heart hammering. "Maybe we just need more practice." He said it so quietly, Lorelai wasn't sure if he'd spoken at all.

"What?" she asked, not taking her eyes off his.

He shrugged. "Well... you know, practice makes perfect and all that, I suppose. With the whole being-good-at-dating thing." He dropped his hands to the counter. It wasn't until they had hit, that he realized that his left hand was placed on top of Lorelai's right hand.

Her eyes widened in shock at the electrical current that was ripping its way up and down her arm from his touch. Frozen, she definitely wasn't going to be the one to pull away. Her breathing became shallow as she continued to look into his face, which had an expression which she guessed mirrored her own.

"Mom!" Rory called across the room, but was ignored. She stomped over to where the two stood. "Mom!" she repeated. This got their attention, and they both whipped their arms back to their sides.

Lorelai struggled to neutralize her face, and then turned towards her daughter. "Sorry honey. What?"

Rory looked at her suspiciously. "Um... coffee?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

"You forgot about coffee?"

It didn't seem plausible to Lorelai either, so she ignored the question and followed Rory back to the table. Luke quickly followed behind with the coffee pot.

Lorelai sat in silence, listening to Rory and Dean talk, sipping her coffee, and sneaking glances towards Luke. Her FRIEND, Luke, as she kept reminding herself. He seemed to be very intent on cleaning the counter, barely moving the spot in which his cloth was rubbing. Every so often, she would notice him looking towards her.

Rory stood up. "Right. I need to go and make sure I have everything ready for school tomorrow." Lorelai didn't move, just kept staring at her coffee, so Rory touched her arm. "You coming?"

Lorelai looked up, startled. "Uh, no. I'll meet you at home, sweets."

Rory shook her head in frustration and walked out of the diner, giving a small wave to Luke. She would need to question her mother about what was bothering her when she got home.

As soon as Rory and Dean had left, Luke gave up his sentry behind the counter, and flipped the closed sign on the door. He sat down across the table from Lorelai, placed his clasped hands on the table with a sigh.

Lorelai looked up at him questioningly. He held her gaze for a second before turning away, flustered. Neither of them seemed eager to say anything.

After several minutes of silence, Lorelai made a move. "Okay, I just need to try something," she told him with a look that seemed to be seeking permission from him.

He nodded infinitesimally.

She reached out towards his hand, and laid her own gently atop it. The feelings that were created with the joining of their hands were just as impressive as before, and shocked her with their intensity. She looked slowly from their hands up to Luke's face, where she could see the same shock written in his features.

"Woah," she whispered, and smiled shyly at him.

When she didn't pull away, Luke slowly moved his hand so that it was holding hers, not just laying flat on the formica.

Lorelai felt another jolt go through her body when he started tracing small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. She took a deep breath, and watched as the hypnotizing movement of his thumb caught her transfixed.

"Is this okay?" he asked.

Worried that her voice would betray how nervous she was, Lorelai simply nodded, her face breaking into a grin at the thought of what was happening between them.

Luke took the grin as invitation, and lifted his free hand, leaning across the table to stroke her cheek softly. Lorelai involuntarily leaned into it, causing him to cup her face.

"Lorelai?" he whispered, now stroking both her hand and her cheek and sending jolts through both their bodies.

She looked directly into his eyes. "Luke?" Her voice was barely louder than his.

Without taking his eyes off her, Luke released her hand and face, resulting in an involuntary whimper to come from Lorelai. He pulled his chair around the table until he was right next to her, and turned her chair to face him. Placing his hands on either side of her head, he pulled her slowly towards him.

Lorelai felt like her heart had stopped beating, and she was struggling for air. As her eyes fluttered closed, she felt Luke's lips on her own, and sighed into it. She didn't believe in the fireworks idea of a first kiss, but this came pretty close to it. The tingling in her lips was like nothing she had ever felt before.

When they came up for air, Lorelai rested her forehead against Luke's. "Maybe there's a reason we've never been good at dating," she whispered.

"Why's that?" he forced out, trying to control his own breathing.

"It was never the right person," she ventured, straining to see his reaction.

He grinned, and planted his lips back in their rightful place against hers.

When they pulled away for the second time, Luke took both her hands in his. "Uh... what is this? I mean... what's going on here?" he asked.

"I... I'm not sure. What do you want it to be?"

A smile crept across Luke's face as he said "This", and kissed her again.

"I like that," she mumbled into his mouth, giving him just enough time to slip his tongue between her lips. Desperate for more contact, he pulled her off her chair and guided her into his lap, without once breaking the contact of their kiss. His arms slipped easily around her back, pulling her closer still until they could feel every contour of the others chest, and the strong thumping of their hearts.

Lorelai's arms had just found their way around Luke's neck, when they heard the door open, and the bell ring. They jumped apart as quickly as humanly possible, and each turned to find Jess standing in the doorway, an obvious smirk on his face.

"Uncle Luke." Jess nodded his head in greeting. "I can go out again, if you'd like. I'm sure I can find plenty of trouble to get in to."

Lorelai picked up her purse, obviously flustered. "No. No need. I was just leaving." She exited the diner without a glance towards Luke or his nephew, and strode determinedly towards the Jeep.

She was just climbing in when Luke came running after her. "Lorelai, wait!" He slowed as she slammed the door shut, but she unzipped the window.

"I'm sorry Luke," she began, not looking him in the eye. "I shouldn't have done that. It was stupid."

Luke forced his arm through the window. "Please. Please don't say that."

"Luke, how am I supposed to see you as a friend after that?"

He reached out and ran a soft finger across her left cheek. "I was hoping that you'd see me as more..."

This made her look up sharply. She had tears in her eyes. "I don't want to ruin our friendship. You mean too much to me for that."

"It doesn't have to be ruined."

"You know more than anyone how messed up I am. You should be running for the hills right now."

He shook his head vehemently. "No." He fumbled for her hand which was resting on the steering wheel. "Please get out of the car, Lorelai."

She did as he asked, and stood in front of him, unsure of what to say.

"I want this, Lorelai - all of it."

She watched him as he leaned towards her, and brushed his lips lightly across hers, making her draw in a breath.

"Please say you want it to," he almost pleaded, not caring how emasculated it was making him.

Lorelai nodded slowly.

Luke smiled at her, and wrapped her into a hug.

"I should get back to Rory," she realized.

He pulled away, nodded in agreement and watched her get back into the Jeep. "One thing," he told her before she pulled away. "Do you think that maybe we could practice the whole dating thing... together... sometime?"

"Dear God, yes," she grinned. "We might need a lot of practice, I think."

Luke leaned through the still open window, and pecked her on the lips. Two seconds later, The Bangles started blasting out of the speakers, and he stepped back onto the sidewalk and watched her drive away.


End file.
